Friday, 20 July 2012

Social Media Networking Strategy: Keys to Success

Let’s face it, social media is now an integral part of not
just our personal live, but also our professional lives. Bloggers have started
using social mediums for promoting their blogs, and for promoting and marketing
their content. Social mediums like Facebook and Twitter give you an edge in
creating and promoting your online presence and connecting with your audience
and potential clientele/consumers.

People have started selling and marketing their products and
services on social media.

Marketers have realized the potential of social media, and
are now leveraging its power to build brands, attract more consumers and
generate more sales. Research conducted by the firm Buddy Media shows that
Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are always considered when developing a marketing
strategy, particularly in larger organizations.

And it is easy to see why. Social media is cheap, very
accessible, and presents marketers with an enormous opportunity in terms of
access to a large demographic and the ability to influence a large number of
people. For instance Facebook has (almost) a billion users – that’s 1/7th
of the whole world’s population! Which means that with a single status update,
you could be potentially reaching out to millions.

Here is a set of things that should be a part of every
social media strategy:

1. Know your audience: The first step towards building a
strong online presence is actually knowing who you’ll be reaching out to. This
includes familiarity with your audience, and understanding their habits and
interests. It is also important to determine what demographics (age, sex,
location, income, profession, etc) your audience belongs to, as this will allow
you to tailor your content accordingly.

Example: A Facebook page aimed at promoting an NFL Betting website
would need to target people that fit into the correct demographic –
professional males in North America, making a specific amount of money. It’s
all marketing research.

2. Regular updates: Be regular with your updates. People
need to know that you are alive, and in a world where there is plenty of
information at one’s disposal (information overload even), it is important to
be able to remind people that you still very much exist.

Example: ESPN’s Facebook pages sends out an update at least
once-a-day, usually the day’s biggest story. Similarly, IKEA’s page regularly
shares pictures of its furniture on a regular basis. Most newspapers and TV
channels share breaking news on their Facebook pages, which could be related to
entertainment, politics, sports or other categories.

3. Be interesting: The key to good updates and the ability
to really engage your audience is being interesting. Avoid sending out boring
or generic updates or tweets – send something that’s actually worth reading,
and would be valuable to the group of people you are targeting.

Example: Create and share infographics. Ask your fans what’s
going on in their lives, or who they would like to see host next year’s Oscars,
or whose performance they think stood out in the new Batman movie.

4. Be unique: An easier approach to take would be rehashing
content from other sources and essentially re-sharing what other publishers are
putting up. Instead, the most successful social media marketers are those who
share original content. Put some thought into creating your own content

Example: If you run a page on humor, internet memes (such as
Bad Luck Brian, LOL Cats, etc.) seem to be doing pretty well right now. Try
sharing images and videos that would awe your audience. Think outside the box,
such as that Old Spice
commercial.

5. Offer something in return: The biggest gains that can be
had through social media marketing is when you, as a marketer, offer something
in return. Focus on passing on the benefits to your fans and followers, instead
of what you can get is the right approach here.

Example: One of the best ways to do this is doing giveaways
and/or offer discounts on your products/services – perhaps doing something like
a Facebook-exclusive giveaway will enhance social engagement. Alternatively,
use your online presence to offer advice, tips, and DIYs.

6. Keep all communication short and to the point. Because
let’s be honest, no one has the time to listen to or read long stories – people
hate having their time wasted, and lead busy lives. On the other hand, concise
and to-the-point communication – such as tweets, status updates, or messages
through images or videos – will give you a better chance of being read, and
people will be more like to retweet, like, share, and +1 such updates and help
you spread the word.

Example: This is pretty easy to do on Twitter as you’re
restricted to 160 characters per tweet. While I don’t have a specific example
on how to be precise on Facebook, I generally recommend keeping your updates
short, and using as less words as possible to get your message across, because
‘posts that are less than 80 characters create 27 percent more engagement’
according to a study by Buddy Media.

7. Day and time of updates: According to the same study, the
day and time that an update is sent out during the day has a large influence on
its engagement. Posts sent out early in the morning, at the end of the day or
late at night had 20% more engagement. Similarly, posts on Sundays and during
midweek (Wednesdays and Thursdays) seem to be the most popular.

Example: Fairly obvious. Send out your updates on the
aforementioned days and during the said times so that they yield the most
returns in terms of engagement. Maximize your post frequency and output during
these times.

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